Wetfur's Legacy

Wetkit looked up at her mother. “Who is he, Sparkswipe? I want to meet him.” Sparkswipe didn’t answer. She just continued playing with Wetkit’s littermate, Icekit. Wetkit sighed and curled up in a small, furry ball. Maybe one day I’ll find out who he secretly is.

Wetpaw glanced at Icepaw in excitement as her mother spoke the words. They’d be having more sisters! Or brothers. Either way, Wetpaw was pleased, through-and-through. But yet again, Sparkswipe only announced she’d be having them. Who would be their siblings’ father?

Wetpaw sliced the rabbit’s throat in a quick slash, then scooped it up. Raggedtail caught up to her and looked impressed. “That’s a very clean catch you made.” Wetpaw was distracted by an approaching WindClan patrol. One of the toms stood out to her. His dark brown fur, although tabby, reminded her so much of her own. And his eyes...his handsome amber eyes. Wetpaw could’ve sworn she was looking at a reflection of herself. Could this cat somehow be distant kin, connected to her through a faraway ancestor? Or was he not? Could he be closer to Wetpaw than she’d realized?

Wetfur curled her body around the silver tom’s. His eyes shone mischeviously in the moonlight. It was so nice to be alone, for once...just her and his handsome yellow eyes and shining tabby pelt. “I don’t remember catching your name,” She purred flirtatiously. Maybe it’s... Lightningstrike. It would suit him well. The tom’s eyes sparkled back, but before he could reply, a sudden yowl broke out. “Is that you? What are you doing here,--” But Wetfur had already jumped up and ran away, and didn’t hear the mysterious tom’s Clanmate reveal his name.

“I’m expecting?” Wetfur gasped. “It can’t be true!” “It is,” Sparkswipe answered, her pale, sandy pelt sparkling with a million stars. Wetfur couldn’t deny that she looked far more pretty than she’d ever seen her mother when she was alive. Who knew StarClan cats could get such beauty? “Now, perhaps, you will experience my pain when I had you.” Wetfur knew she wasn’t talking about the birth. She was talking about the father. And no cat could ever, ever find out.

Wetfur glanced around warily at the cats she thought she could trust. Now she’d have to be careful. Who knew which cats would tell Raggedstar, and who would keep their muzzles shut? She couldn’t even talk to her sister. Aaah, what am I doing? Raggedstar asked me the question. I've got to come up with a lie, quick. “Uuuuhhhmm. It’s...aaaah.” So, she said the most suspicious and stupidest thing ever. “It doesn’t matter. They’re ThunderClan; they will bring honor and strength to it.” Raggedstar frowned. “Hmm. Well, if you insist. Have you named them?” She actually hadn’t. So she looked down at her two, perfect little kits. The first looked much like her mother, except her fur was a much darker shade of reddish-brown, almost honey-like. “This is Honeykit,” She declared, poking the tiny she-kit with her nose. Next to her, her slightly older brother rested. As she looked at him, she came to the realization that he was a sparring image of WindClan cat Wetfur had seen. His dark brown tabby fur had very faint streaks of pale in it, and his yellow eyes were split into diamonds. There’s no way this could be a coincidence, Wetfur thought. This cat really looks like...my father! I need a name for him. She thought of naming him Silverkit, after his shining silver father, but she realized if the mysterious silver Tom's name really had Silver in it, or if anyone ever compared the two, Wetfur’d be found out. Plus, he didn’t have a whisker of silver in him,
Sandkit. The name came to Wetfur suddenly. It would be after Wetfur’s older brother Houndheart, her littermate, and her mother. They all had pale sandy fur, so it would honor them. And no one would ever find out...hopefully.

Wetfur watched proudly as Sandpaw and Honeypaw earned their warrior names. She’d be able to patrol with them now! As she trotted up to the two new warriors, they both exchanged glances. “Wetfur, we’ve been thinking..." Sandfoot started, and Honeywater finished for him. “Now that we’re old enough, we want to know who our father is.”

Depression. Everything was depressing. Owlfur, whom Wetfur thought had loved her, left her for Frozenstrike. Harebright hadn’t let her on a patrol in forever, and she was sure that he hated her. Both her kits were ignoring her after she’d told them about their father. They said they just needed “some space”, but it had been a moon. To top it off, her younger sister Hollyfin died recently. Nothing was going right, and she wasn’t sure life for her would ever be going in the right direction again.

Have to fight. Have to protect. Have to survive. Claws ripped at her and teeth snapped. The battle was at a furious point. Icefur suddenly yowled an alarm and tore away a WindClan she-cat who was aiming for Wetfur’s neck. Wetfur could only give a small nod of extreme gratitude before she had to watch her back again. She suddenly spied Ducklilac at the edge of a clearing, pinned down by that dark tabby tom she’d recently learned the name of; Duskwood. AKA, her father. Without a second thought, Wetfur snarled leapt over many cat’s heads towards Duskwood. Before he could sink his teeth into Ducklilac’s throat, Wetfur’s claws were throwing him away with a strong and brutal force, where he thudded into a tree. “Warriors don’t kill!” She spat at her father. Every cat was silent. Raggedstar came forward, looking Mousestar straight in the eye. “It seems your warrior tried to kill one of our expecting she-cats. ThunderClan, we’ve won.” Every ThunderClan cat cheered, while WindClan gathered their warriors and stalked away.

“At the death of Harebright, I name you, Wetfur, ThunderClan’s new deputy. You have the strength and courage I have only seen once in a warrior, and that was our late deputy. If you are a tenth of what he was, you will be a great successor to me. Clan meeting dismissed.”
Finally, some light was shining through for Wetfur.

She was drifting. She didn’t know how long she had been, or what caused it, but that was what she realized. She’d wake up, eat, patrol, eat some more, hunt, share tongues, laze, repeat. Nothing seemed to have changed. When she first realized she couldn’t remember how many moons it had been since the last battle, she’d wanted something to change. But not in the gruesome way it did.

Sandfoot’s death was devastating. To Wetfur, because she was her kit, the strongest bond of all. To Honeywater, because she was her littermate, and the two were very close. To Frogpelt and Spiderwhisker because she was their mentor, and had taught them the ways of the code. Now, neither one of those cats would ever hear her strong voice or touch her soft fur again. She had left for StarClan, gone, and never to be seen by anything living but medicine cats again. The worst part was that she’d been killed on a simple border watch, by a WindClan patrol Wetfur’s father was on.

“What is it you wanted to talk to me about?” Wetfur mewed, her tail-tip twitching impatiently. She and Honeywater were barely like mother and daughter anymore, after Sandfoot’s death. Right now, Wetfur’s top priority was patrolling, and if she waited around for the kit who hated her, the patrols would fill up and Wetfur would have to wait until the sunset to go on another.
“I just wanted to say... I forgive you,” Honeywater mewed quietly, and tears started streaming down her cheeks. “And I’m sorry, too. For ignoring you all these moons, because of who my father was. I knew it wasn’t your fault you had his kits, I think I just needed someone to be mad to. And, look, now that Sandfoot isn’t here anymore, I think we need each other more than ever. And it’s my fault for not coming to you before. But now I am. So, I forgive you.” It’s about time, Wetfur thought affectionately, and they embraced. The best part was, Wetfur agreed.

Thanks for reading!